How can we help Senior Citizens understand Medicare?

Are you "teaching" those about to be 65 what Medicare is, or are you asking how to understand it yourself?? It think you've gotten both kinds of answers above, but I'd just say that it wasn't as easy to understand as I'd hoped (and I'm college educated, computer literate, detail oriented, etc.).

I had to do a LOT of looking around, trying to understand terminology, etc, before I could really understand the basic framework, what I would quality for, be the best deal for me, etc, etc. I actually got a lot of good info from some of the Medicare "brokers" online, who as a free service wrote explanations of some things in a summarized but clear way.

If you're trying to understand Medicare yourself, or to help someone else, I wrote a kind of breakdown of it in my answer to this previous question:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=201205... (it's the long answer)

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We have to realize that not all doctors accept Medicare. Those that do will accept 80% of what Medicare determines is a fair and customary charge. It is up to the patient to buy private supplemental insurance to cover the remaining 20%. Medicare requires you to include prescription medication coverage either through Medicare or an insurance company that provides coverage equal to or better than what Medicare does at the same price. Everything I've mentioned is subject to deductibles and that's where it can really get confusing. Does the doctor or hospital base the deductible on their actual charges or on what Medicare pays? I don't know. My supplemental insurance has been pretty good up to this point and I seldom have to pay much of anything except the deductible for prescription meds.

There are local organizations who do this like National Council on Aging. If you are asking what YOU can do, I would recommend explaining the diffrence between Original and Advantage before anything else.

You can refer people to the Medicare website or call 800-medicare. I know the Medicare book is very confusing.

Well, for one thing Medicare says it pays 80% of the medical bill. This is a misnomer as Medicare pays 80% of what IT feels the bill SHOULD have been. Thus you may wind up paying the 20% and still owe well over that for what your medical service actually charges you.

Found this out when I was paying the bills for my mother. She was only covered by Medicare, and sometimes that didn't even come close to helping to pay her bills.

I gained't comprehend some thing until eventually I fill out my Medicare sorts and acquire a kit with preparation. i am going to ascertain the entire print. Darned if i am going to fume up without the info below my nostril. What ever i'd be getting will be extra advantageous than what I actually have now, which isn't some thing. =)

There's a book from Medicare that are new every year..if you are on medicare they will sent you a new book..it will tell you everything you need to know, and also you can call them if you need more help or don't understand anything...=)

I admit to not understanding it very well, but my county and many counties across the country have services that cater to Senior Citizens and can explain what you need to know when you need to know it. Mine is the local county Commission on Aging. They have a staff of mostly volunteers, but they've gone through the motions so many times that they pretty much know what they're talking about.

You start by going to the Medicare site, shown below. If you have further questions you can call people at Medicare or AARP. Good luck.

http://www.medicare.gov/default.aspx

It's not that complicated. Just get a current handbook and read it.

Don't confuse mediCARE with mediCAID. MediCAID is administered by individual states, and can vary from state to state. It is based on income and only low income is eligible. MediCARE is the federal program and is consistent, no matter where you live.

we do not have this problem in Britain,all medical and hospital care is free as is medication for the elderly,those that work have to pay for medical prescriptions but still get the same care as do all immigrants.